The PlayStation 3 is a strange thing. The console was late to the party that the Xbox 360 did a great job kicking off, and that’s a big deal. Of course, in Sony-owned countries like the UK, everyone seems to be waiting for it. It doesn’t matter that the launch lineup is a bit bad, the console itself looks ugly, or it’s ridiculously expensive. The follow-up to what may be the greatest console of all time, the PS2, is a great deal.
But what exactly do people want to play on their new PS3? I was at the UK launch in March 2006, somewhere in London, probably in a store that no longer exists, now Greggs. There, we interviewed current Stadia underdog Phil Harrison — a giant at heart. I’ve never spoken to a man so intimidatingly big before. Phil, as important as he was in the PlayStation era (lots of ducks, etc.) wasn’t the highlight of the night for me. Oh no. This is the public. More specifically, the actual reason why some of them are buying a new PS3 for a billion pounds.
A young man with a pencil-thin beard told me so enthusiastically, “Sonic.” It surprised me so much that for the first time since the BBC2 comedy show “Fist of Fun” aired in 1995, I nearly laughed. sound. But I digress. This guy queued for hours for £425 (plus the price of the game) to play a really bad Sonic game that everyone knows sucks because it was released on the Xbox 360 last year.
A lot of people in the line couldn’t even name any of the games they’d bought, simply talking about Blu-ray and FIFA – even though the first FIFA on PS3 was about six months away from release. It doesn’t matter.
Ridge Racer 7 was there when it launched. But no, of course no one mentioned it. However, of all the reasons I’ve been told why people bought the PS3 at launch, one thought the Crown was the weirdest, most ridiculous accounting I’ve ever heard.
“Yes, I found that I could save the money I was going to spend on a laptop by buying a PS3,” a man told me. “I’ll be doing everything on the PS3. Just plug in the keyboard. Get the printer ready,” he added. I nodded politely and turned to leave.
As far as I know, no word processor of any kind has been released for the PS3 (unless you have Linux installed on it). I hope you have Linux installed and working hard, man. I really.
Anyway. Welcome to iGamesNews’s Best Gaming Podcast: Episode 21 – If it ever comes back, you’ll buy a console’s best dead game for it.
Be sure to let us know what you think of the show – if this is your first time listening, come back and listen to the previous episodes. If you have suggestions for topics, we’d love to hear them. To be clear, here, no one has suggested anything. I’m starting to think no one reads this. This is quite sad.
“What’s iGamesNews’s best gaming podcast ever?” you ask while thinking about how bad the PS3’s launch lineup was, and how it saved the whole thing with it being a Blu-ray machine. Anyway, this podcast, which is why you’re on this page, is essentially a 30-minute panel presentation where people (me and a few others on iGamesNews) decide the best game in a particular category. That’s it. very good. listen to this.
We’ve included some details on the show’s content below (if you want to review for a great, thoughtful post before heading to the review, or don’t want to hear but want to know which games we’ve picked), so if you want to avoid Spoiler alert, please don’t scroll through this fan-made Chris Bratt head what it would look like if he had a PS3, but the soul of his actual head is trapped inside. (Supporting friends at iGamesNews on Patreon, People Make Games).
If it ever comes back, you’ll buy a console’s best game freezer
This is the subject of episode 21 of iGamesNews’s Best Gaming Podcast Ever. Here’s a rundown of who chose what.
Tom – Ridge Racer
Is there any other game series that screams more than Ridge Racer? It’s not just the original PlayStation launch game; it’s the original PlayStation launch game. It proved what the console could do and sold an entire generation of new consoles in a market dominated by SEGA and Nintendo.
Alex – Time Crisis
I chose Time Crisis, but I have to agree with you: this choice is really about the entire genre, which is home to light gun arcade shooters. These things have been around since the days of the NES and Duck Hunt, and had some kind of heyday with the PS1 and PS2 era, but it seems to have died out with the PS3 era. For my money, it also died through no fault of its own.
Light gun games are victims of a range of situations. For one, they’re not compatible with modern LCD and LED flat-panel displays, and don’t have a whole bunch of bulky sensors — that’s how Time Crisis 4 was released on PS3. I’d also wager that the Guitar Hero debacle caused the genre to suffer — that is, after years of plastic guitars, drums, fitness boards, skateboards, and even gun-shaped Wii Remote cases, playing crappy pointer-based of shooting games, people are just tired of buying plastic tat. All of these things fell off and took down the Light Guns.
But it’s time for them to return. Technological solutions have been created for hardware incompatibility issues, and there are plenty of thirtysomethings who have huge nostalgia for light guns. I’d buy any machine that could get a new age crisis, point blank, Virtua Cop or even just a remake of a classic game. I’m willing to pay the king’s random fee.
Connor – Def Jam
Listen, let’s not mess around here. Def Jam is only once very good. However, Def jam: Fight for NY did very well. This is the complete package, and a crazy idea came to life perfectly. Sure it’s a bit dated, but it’s pretty old, man. That’s why if they made a new console, with a new lineup of modern artists, updated gameplay, and the same smooth style, I’d buy a brand new one faster than you could throw Snoop Dogg out a three-story window game console. I would even buy a Nintendo console.
Worse yet, and worse than other good advice, is that every now and then someone on the official Def Jam Twitter account will post something like “Hey, where do you want the next Def Jam game to be set, Chicago or Philadelphia? “They’ve done it 10 times now. It’s gone from hype to rubbing it in our faces. Please make a new one.
Check back in a week for another episode of iGamesNews’s Best Gaming Podcast Ever.
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